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[Radio voice] It is rather interesting to recall that to the ancient Māori the kōtuku
was a rare bird -- kōtuku is the Māori name for the white heron. And the Māori had a
proverb, still has in many districts a proverb, that the kōtuku was a bird of a single flight,
a poetic way of suggesting that it was a bird that you were lucky to see once in a lifetime.
To the Māori these birds personified grace and beauty and rareness and exclusiveness
-- something exquisite about it.
[Narrator] Ōkarito is a coastal settlement on the edge of the Ōkarito Lagoon, 135 km
south-west of Hokitika. The name refers to the raupō, or bulrushes, that grow around
the lagoon. In Maori, 'karito' means young raupō shoots. Ōkarito grew up as a gold-rush
town in the 1860s, with a population of over 1,200 in 1866.
Covering more than 2,000 hectares of shallow open water and tidal flats, Ōkarito Lagoon
is the largest unmodified wetland in New Zealand. It is a bird-watchers' paradise, with over
70 native species having been identified there. Several centuries ago, some kōtuku, or white
herons, took advantage of the prevailing westerly winds from Australia and established a breeding
colony on the Waitangiroto River, just north of Ōkarito. The colony includes about 120
birds, of which about half are breeders. The population has increased since nearly reaching
extinction in the 1940s, but is still precarious. White herons disperse widely during winter
before returning to Waitangiroto to nest in August and September. Females lay three to
five pale blue-green eggs in September or October, and both sexes share incubation.
When the chicks hatch, they are fed by both parents for about 40 days. They disperse from
the colony three weeks later and may live over 20 years.
With long, slender necks, yellow bills and thin legs, the birds grow to nearly 100 centimetres
in length and almost a kilogram in weight. They are revered by Māori for their beauty,
grace and scarcity. The phrase, 'te kōtuku rerenga tahi', meaning 'the white heron of
a single flight' was given to distinguished guests who seldom visited.
Māori captured individual kōtuku, but ensured that the total population remained sustainable.
Birds were kept in cages and the long white breeding feathers were occasionally plucked
for use as adornments. When European settlers discovered the kōtuku
colony in 1865, vandals destroyed the nests and eggs, and the feathers were taken for
women to wear in their hats. By 1940 there were only four nests left. However, steps
were taken to protect the area, and in 1976 it eventually became the Waitangiroto Nature
Reserve. Surrounded by swamps and rivers, the kotuku
colony has some natural protection, although not enough to prevent stoats and harrier hawks
preying on chicks. To help these young white herons survive, the Department of Conservation
runs a stoat-trapping programme. Since observation began in 1944, the number
of recorded nests reached a high of 65 in 1981. From then, the number of nests has remained
at around 40 to 50. Since 1950 the westerly airflow to New Zealand has increased, causing
more storms and greater rainfall in Westland, especially in summer. These have destroyed
nests and killed chicks. Limited numbers of tourists can visit the
colony during the breeding season. The birds are viewed from a hide across the river to
avoid disturbing them. During the summer, groups also visit the colony, departing from
the small town of Whataroa. A jet boat takes them close the colony, where a boardwalk allows
a leisurely inspection without disturbing the birds.
The small community at Ōkarito contains 20-30 baches and includes permanent residents as
well as holiday homes. Ōkarito's most famous resident is writer Keri Hulme. Part of her
1985 Booker Prize-winning novel the bone people is set at Ōkarito. She also writes about
catching whitebait in the nearby lagoon. However, she recently announced she was leaving her
Ōkarito home of almost 40 years as local body rates rises meant she couldn't afford
to live there. "We have people who fly in, planes, helicopters, to their very ugly Mcmansions,"
she wrote.